Why do an Ironman?

I have been asked this question along with, “how far is that?” I start out saying “the swim is 2.4 miles” as soon as I say that, I usually get interrupted with “2.4 miles, are you kidding, I can barely get to the other end of the pool......” At which point I say, “wait there’s more, then a 112 mile bike and a marathon at the end”. Most people just shake their heads and say “that’s crazy, I could never do that”. I guess that is the interesting part to me, and what I find fascinating. I now that they can do it if they wanted to. Just about anything (within reason) IS possible, you just have to commit yourself to it, believe and be willing to follow the steps to achieve your goal. You can run, or walk, across the country if you want to. It might take some people a little longer than others, but, IT IS possible. I think where we as humans get hung up is, looking at the whole distance to our goal, whatever it is, and getting overwhelmed and intimidated, then start feeling like we can’t measure up in our current state. I have a couple of areas in my life where I am battling this. I am training for the Ironman to remind myself that the seemingly impossible Is possible.

Jasmine is doing GREAT with her swimming. We went Monday night and she did 10 laps. There was a coach at the pool that coaches at Marina High school. She gave Jasmine a couple of pointers and couldn’t believe that this was only her second time swimming. She seemed a little discouraged at first and said “by the time I do my 1280 laps, no one will even want an IPhone anymore” I thought that was pretty funny and cute. By the end of our session she seemed more encouraged and I told her that I think she will get up to 30-40 laps per session and at that rate, if we go 3 times a week it will only take 10 weeks or so. That sounds much more manageable. And that, I think. is the trick. Break any goal down to manageable tasks and do them. Just do them, anything to get you towards the finish line. But, you gotta start the race.

So to answer the question “Why do an Ironman?” I guess the real answer is that I think I am not training as much for the Ironman distance as I am training to remember that I can truly reach any goal that I set out to accomplish. So after IMAZ, I will apply this to those other two areas of my life. That is why I’m doing the Ironman.

Swim for the iPhone

Becoming an athlete has changed my life. I have always been pretty motivated, but I have always been motivated in creative endeavors, which are hard to benchmark, and rely on other people to assess “value” or achievement. Being a Triathlete is not like that. I run my own race, for the most part, and I am always striving to beat my last PR. The amount of work that I do in training directly relates to my success. It is pretty scientific, you can see it in a graph, absolute. I like that. There are variables, but you define the variables and the constants and then experiment. There is not a lot left to chance. It is empowering and I wish more people were like that these days (If you ever wonder how many “victims” we have in our society, just take a look at how many lawsuits are clogging our court system, sad.) Most importantly, being an athlete is about setting a goal, working towards it and seeing tangible results from your efforts. Cause and effect. It is a constant reminder for me that I get back what I put in. I have learned this and this is what I want for my Daughters!

Back in January, Apple announced the IPhone. Brittany, Jasmine and I were sitting around the table gawking at the video explaining all of it’s amazing features. We all wanted one. So I devised a plan. I told them that if they started running, I would pay them for their miles. I came up with a nice round number, 250 miles for the $500 iPhone. $2 dollars a mile. It sounded like a lot to them and it was, but I knew that if they stuck with it that long they would be hooked and learn a great lesson at the same time. So, I bought them each an IPod Nano and the Nike + IPod sports kit, which tracks your miles and pace. The “Run for the iPhone” challenge was born.

Brittany and Jasmine were off and running. The iPhone came out at the end of June. At that time I was the only one who had completed my miles but Brittany was not far behind. Jasmine developed pain in her hips, but more about that later. Brittany completed her 250 miles in August. She opted to not get the iPhone and instead take cash, which was an option. She spent her money on clothes. You know how women are. I am happy to report that she is now a “real runner.” She has close to 500 miles logged and is training for her first marathon in February ’08 having done several other races including 2, 1/2 marathons.

Jasmine was sidelined with hip problems, so we needed to figure out another challenge for her. Her Doctor said that swimming would be great therapy and it is a low impact sport. So, she is now “Swimming for the iPhone.” Based on the original challenge, I figured that they could comfortably run a 12:00 mile which is 5 miles an hour. So 250 miles would translate to 50 hours of running. Luckily for Jasmine, the iPhone price has come down to $400 for the 8 GiG model so she only needs to do 40 hours of swimming. I figure that she can work up to and swim 1 MPH comfortably. One mile in a 25 meter pool is roughly 32 laps. So, the math is, $10 an hour per 1 mile of swimming for a total of 40 miles. Or .31 cents a lap for 1280 laps. It sounds like a lot but we will be going 3 times a week for an hour a session so it should only take about 13 weeks. We started last night and we had a great time. Jasmine looks like a natural. She looks very comfortable in the water. She watched the “Total Immersion” DVD and did a few drills and swam a few laps.

Man, I love it when a good plan comes together!

Stay tuned for updates on Jasmine's progress.

Paul